I went outside my room, and outside to the dark and empty hallways. The only other people that were still awake at this time was Ayala, the Elf woman who seemed to be the bartender, and two other men who were still drinking.

Ayala saw me and hastily bowed her head, “O-Oh, sir! What are you doing this late at night? Do you need a drink, perhaps? We offer the best liquor in all of Eden!” She’d say, her head still bowed.

“No, I’m just headed for a walk. Thank you for the offer, however.”

 “Okay! P-Please do be safe, sir!” She escorted me to the exit and bowed her head one more time before rushing back to the front desk.

“…Talis…” The soft voice of the woman in my dreams would keep calling to me, it was in the direction of the mountain, it sounded like it was outside the city. I walked through the pathways, well-lit by the tall lamp posts that had a crystal ball imbued with Light Numen. I slowly made my way to the origin of the voice, which led me outside of the city, since there weren’t any walls I simply walked out before a guard approached me, “Halt!” I’d stop, and he’d come closer. “Where are you going at this time of night?”

“I, uh…”

“I jest! Do you have any form of identification?” He’d cut me off and start giggling, he always wanted to say that, but never really got the chance to until now.

“Sorry, I just arrived here yesterday…”

“Alright, then I shall stay in my post until you come back. I’ll give you an hour, and if you don’t return by then I’ll come find you.”

“…Talis…” That damned voice was starting to get irritating, and it got louder too. It was in the direction of the plains just by the base of the mountain. I made my way towards it, admiring how pretty the night sky was while I was on the way there, the dozens of stars seemingly lighting my path towards where I was supposed to go, but that was just my imagination.

“…Brother…” It was a different voice; this time it was a voice that resembled a small boy’s.

It called out to me just as the other voice had, urging me to come closer, and piquing my curiosity. The voices got louder and louder, and as I got closer, I saw something in the distance. It looked like… Ruins? I squinted my eyes to make sure what I was seeing was right, and it really was ruins. I couldn’t exactly make out what it really was, so I got closer.

A few minutes of walking, and there I stood, in front of what remained of a temple, but to who? The voices suddenly stopped speaking normally, and they started whispering to me. “…Talis… Brother…” Those words would softly whisper in my ears, coming from inside the temple. As much as I wanted to stay away from any potential danger, and this looked like one, I couldn’t resist it. It was as if I was being drawn in, and I just couldn’t seem to let go of the voices’ grasp on me.

I went inside, and it was pitch black, the moonlight that was shining down from the outside couldn’t pierce through here. I slowly but surely made my way deeper inside, relying on my instincts and closely listening to the whispers.

I got deep enough inside that it was eerie. As I walked through the darkness, Cling! Clang! I stepped on something, and it didn’t sound good. Suddenly, torches would light up and blind me, it was too bright for my eyes that had been adjusting to the darkness. It revealed a path, a small and narrow one at that, it all lead to an ominous area that seemed to be a staircase going down.

I walked through the unsettlingly large temple, and now that there was light, it seemed like the interior wasn’t in shambles, compared to how it looked outside, just from the exterior, it was as if this place was ready to crumble at any second. “…Talis… Corta fortum…” The woman’s voice would softly whisper, and I couldn’t understand what it was saying, but I recall Reanne’s translation of the ancient text we saw back at Thunder’s Call. Talis… Come? Is all that I could fully interpret, I had no knowledge whatsoever on how to read the ancient language.

 “Brother… Corta fortum…” The voices were telling me to come… But where? I headed further and made it to the staircase, and slowly made my way down. The whispers got louder the deeper down I went, and it felt like I’ve been going down seemingly endless flights of stairs.

“…Talis… Corta fortum, akh des’thina khar fate aw’thas…” The soft voice of the woman was completing her sentence, now that I got closer. “…Talis… Come forth, great destiny and fate awaits…” The voice of the little boy would say, their voices intertwining with one another.

I kept looking down softly holding the walls as I kept going, making sure as to not miss a step and tumble down to my death, which would frankly, be embarrassing as fuck. The voices of the little boy and the woman in my dreams were merging with each other, sounding distorted in a way, but it helped me to understand what the woman was saying, at least.

After what felt like an eternity of going down the stairs, I made it down. What awaited me was a large hallway filled with murals and delicate paintings of… Gods? I think. I wasn’t really sure but I immediately recognized Skiiva with her beautiful white robe with golden linings made of silk, and her four wings.

On my left was a painting of Altrae’s Passing, before the city of Altria was made, and oddly enough it looked just like what I had seen in my dream, in the painting was Skiiva in all her glory, and… Another God facing her? It had the appearance of a man with four wings. I didn’t know who this God was, and I’ve never heard of this before.

I kept going through the hallway and the paintings and murals were all different, yet connected, as if depicting something. What I could understand was that this mysterious God was having a conversation with Skiiva, and that he could create tempests with the snap of his fingers… Where have I heard this before? It was all too familiar.

I got deeper and deeper in, and I started understanding more… I think? The Gods were fighting one another, and Skiiva had to enlist the aid of this mystery God, who had acted independently all this time, maintaining neutrality. The soft voice of the woman would suddenly speak, and this time, I could understand the ancient speech it was saying. “Won’t you help your older sister in her fight?” It was as if the paintings were speaking as I walked past them, “Please, T-”

“Fine. But just this once. I shall use my tempests for another, sister.” A man’s rough voice would say, it sounded eerily familiar… Somewhat like mine, but more gruff and old.

“Thank you! I will never forget this, T-” It kept cutting off whenever it was about to say the mysterious God’s name, which kept me curious.

I kept walking and the murals were depicting a battle being fought here, where my dream was… In the mural was a Rahasan Cat with four wings holding a fishing rod, lying dead with wounds all over its body. It was the God Altrae, I never knew that Altrae was Rahasan.

The mural next to it, however, was a depiction of the mysterious God laying down by the base of the mountain… Coincidentally where I was, I still couldn’t tell who this God was, as his face was blurred, as if to keep his identity hidden. I wondered if anyone has ever even found this place, as it was too clean.

“My little brother… I’m sorry I dragged you into my conflict with Sora’Umbra. I will forever honor your legacy… T-” The mysterious God was the little brother of Skiiva, and the conflict was against the Demon Goddess Umbra? We learned about this celestial war back at the academy, but they never spoke of Skiiva having a little brother.

The next few paintings were of the devastation of the battle, and Altrae’s death creating the great lake that’s located east of the continent, which became known as Altrae’s Rest, and the creation of the rivers that connected Altrae’s Passing to the Rest. The scenery in the painting could only be described as somber, and bittersweet, the calm water reflecting the beautiful sunset, which symbolized the death of Altrae.

I kept going down the hallway. “…Talis… Come forth, great destiny and fate awaits…” The voices would start repeating again what it was saying earlier.

It just kept going. After the endless flights of stairs, now it was an endless hallway. That’s just great. I don’t know how much time has passed since I left the inn, but I knew that it was getting extremely late.

The latter murals in this long stretch of a hallway was… Odd. It was a depiction of a mother holding a little baby… Wait. That was my mother! Then that means… That’s me?! I kept going and the murals kept depicting events that happened in my life, such as when I first learned how to use my Wind Numen, my time at the academy, the failed siege of Sakaris, and all the events leading up to… This moment?

The final mural at the end of the hallway was… Me staring at the same mural, creating an infinite loop within that mural. What the fuck is going on? I looked ahead of me and saw a large empty room, the only thing that was in it was a pedestal with something on it… It was in the shape of a sphere, and it was glowing.

“Talis… Come… Forth…” The whispers were all being drawn in to that thing.

I felt compelled to go towards it, but I inspected my surroundings for anything suspicious, and there wasn’t. Was it a trap? If I took it would everything suddenly collapse? I was too uncertain, but the voices kept urging me to go to it.

I would slowly walk to it, “Talis… The boy who caught the storms…” A different voice would say, this time it was my mother’s voice.

“Talis… The God who caught the storms…” It was the soft voice of the woman from my dreams… It was Skiiva’s voice.

“Talis… The God of Tempests, and the little boy who caught the storms…” The voice of the little boy would say, and I still couldn’t tell who it was.

Suddenly, three ghostly figures would stand before me. On the left was the God Skiiva, with her four wings and wearing her signature robe. In the middle was my mother, her calloused hands reaching out to me. And on the right was… The little boy? He had four wings just as a God would, and he wore a small robe with the emblem of boots with wings. I recognized who it was immediately, it was Leventis, the God of Speed and Wayfinders.

The three voices would merge and intertwine, sounding more distorted than ever. “Who will you be, Talis?” They slowly walked towards me, and I readied myself for anything that could happen, “A long and arduous fate awaits you, he who caught the storms.” As they were about to touch me, they disappeared. I didn’t understand what they meant at all.

I finally got to the glowing sphere sitting atop a pedestal in the middle of the room. I felt the need to extend my hand towards it, as if wanting to grasp onto it. As my hand grew closer and closer towards it, I could see teal colored specks of dust coming towards me… Was this… Numen? As it entered my body, it felt as if I was eating a hearty meal, and I felt so full of energy.

As more and more of the Numen entered my body, the sphere slowly disappeared, until it was no more. I suddenly felt… Drowsy, I felt like I was about to pass out, but I did everything I could to stay conscious for as long as possible and saw another ghostly figure slowly approaching me.

“You who have inherited my name and the storms, your fate will be as the tempests; tragic and unfortunate. It is an arduous path, one filled with blood and misfortune.” He would crouch down at me, who was laying on the ground, “I was Talis, the God of Storms. Farewell, unfortunate hero.”